How
to Implement a Community-Based Designated Driver Program
Program Planning
Operations
Partnerships
Program Marketing
Evaluation
Tips
for Specific Groups
Community
Organizations
Employers
Educators/College
Groups
Criminal Justice
Medical
and Health Care Community
Hospitality
Industry and Retailers
Armed Forces
Publicity
and Promotion
Working with
the Media
Calendar of
Year Round Ideas
Media Q&A
Resources
Partners and
Resources
Publications
MEDICAL
AND HEALTH CARE COMMUNITY
Medical and health care professionals are among the first to see the consequences
of an impaired driving crash. Partnering with them provides a means to promote
positive messages and prevent the crashes to which they respond. Medical,
public health and emergency service organizations you can contact include:
- Local hospitals,
- Fire departments,
- Physicians and nurses,
- Local health department,
- Emergency medical
service providers,
- Local American Red
Cross chapters and
- Veterans Hospitals (VA).
- Confirming that hospitals
or clinics have standard policies regarding the release of intoxicated individuals.
- Making sure that physicians
and pharmacists inform patients and customers that alcohol and certain prescription
drugs do not mix, especially when driving.
- Partnering with community
groups that organize Designated Driver programs.
- Contributing funds
or providing volunteers to Designated Driver programs.
- Writing a column for
the local newspaper about the consequences of drinking and driving.
- Setting up a program
to identify and measure the cost to the community of caring for those injured
by impaired drivers.
- Speaking to community
groups about the effects of impaired driving, as well as alternatives to
impaired driving such as designating a sober driver or taking a safe ride
home.
- Responding to a mock
crash at a local high school, in cooperation with law enforcement and community
and student organizations.
- Hosting tours of the
emergency department for students and other groups.
- Incorporating impaired
driving issues into the curriculum for first year medical students, giving
future doctors greater insight into both the societal and medical problems
related to impaired driving.
- Using your community's
emergency department or rehabilitation center as the background for Designated
Driver news conferences. Besides providing a highly visual backdrop, the
site is a reminder of the real-life consequences of driving after consuming
alcohol or drugs.
- Distributing impaired
driving prevention and Designated Driver promotional materials in waiting
rooms, admittance desks or cash registers.
